COLLEGE FOOTBALL READY TO KICK-OFF FOR NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOLS

Well it’s only a few short weeks until the college football season gets underway and that includes programs from North Carolina.

Coaches and players have been preparing since the end of last season to get their teams ready to compete in the 2016 season and hit the ground running.

So what are the expectations for some of these programs? Well, let’s take a quick look at some of the state’s football teams and what the analysts are saying about their prospects for the coming season.

University of North Carolina

The Tar Heels are coming off of a great season where they finished with an 11-3 record and an ACC Coastal Division title. With 14 starters returning, they are hoping for even better things this season.

They will, however, have to overcome the loss of Quarterback Marquise Williams to graduation but the expectation is that Mitch Trubisky can fill the void. With weapons like receiver Ryan Switzer and running back Elijah Hood at his disposal it should help ease the transition.

North Carolina State

After a solid year in 2015 with a record of 7-6 and a bowl game appearance, the Wolfpack will need a few things to go right for the team to improve on that mark. Getting to another bowl game is certainly possible, but there are some hurdles ahead for them.

They need to replace Quarterback Jacoby Brissett who had talent and mobility. Plus the schedule is a tough one. They do get home games against Notre Dame and Florida State, but need to go on the road against Clemson, Louisville and North Carolina.

Duke

The Blue Devils are coming off of their fourth consecutive bowl appearance and have won a total of 27 games over the last three seasons. However some analysts think this could be a down year for the program.

Returning Quarterback Thomas Sirk suffered an achilles injury in the spring and his season may be prematurely over. They will need backup Parker Boehme to fill the void.

With tough road contests against Northwestern, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Miami, the team will need some strong efforts to make a fifth consecutive bowl appearance.

Wake Forest

For the Demon Deacons we should probably talk about the good news first. Number one, they do return a total of 17 starters from 2015. Number two, the nonconference schedule includes the likes of Army, Delaware and Tulane so that should help.

Now the bad news. The offense was one of the worse in college football last year ranking 19th overall. In addition, the ACC is getting better and beating some of their conference opponents whether at home or on the road will not be an easy task.

So that’s a quick look at four schools from the state as we get close to the upcoming college football season. Although it might be easy for the analysts to think they know how things will turn it, the actual games will decide how things will really go.

It should be fun to watch.